Governor Dennis Daugaard has appointed a new Secretary of Agriculture. The new hire has experience in government . . . and on the farm.
Mike Jaspers grew up in South Dakota and operates farms on the eastern side of the state. He served in the state legislature for 8 years and was the state director for the USDA’s Rural Development. Jaspers says receiving the position is an honor and he wants to push forward to help producers.
“Farming is a big business game now whether you’re in livestock production, whether you’re in crop production, or what it may be. It takes an awful lot of capital nowadays with high costs of productions especially lower commodity prices in grain especially. That equates to break evens in net profits being very marginal. We’re in a very high cost environment nowadays and that puts pressure on especially family operations,” says Jaspers.
Jaspers says he hopes to aid younger producers and family farms. He also wants to focus on water and soil sustainability in the state.